Month: February 2022

While I was collecting my dock lines from EYC yesterday I wondered if the nail shaft in the piling next to Aine was an isolated incident, or symptoms of a systemic problem. I soon got my answer… I went down one piling, bent over it and this is what I saw. Its a large diameter… Continue reading Boaters, things to look out for…

People ask me, why do you do this, it seems so hard, so dangerous, so unforgiving. Well, it is. Sailing isn’t a lazy man’s game; sailing is more about thinking then it is about muscle, damn good thing too at my age with my knees. Sailing in a foreign country, in a different place with… Continue reading Insight #1

This is a transition day; the hope is that the weather pattern will be returning to normal. Throughout the night the winds built back up again, it’s really strange here, in most places at night things tend to settle down, but not here, not this year, night time is the time to pour it on.… Continue reading George Town, Day 5 [Thursday Feb 17]

We were working the beach & grill watch in the Exuma District, on Stalking Island, when we got the call, a significant backup was developing at the Chat and Chill. Dispatch said the caller didn’t leave a name. We boarded Aine and weighted anchor and motored to Stalking Island on the other side of Elizabeth… Continue reading DragNail, Episode 2, ‘I’m confused’

This is departure day for Sarah, I arranged a water taxi with the dock master at EYC, who promised to call and confirm the 8:45 arrival at Aine, but there was no confirmation call, given the EYC history, I wasn’t surprised. Just in case I told Sarah that if no one shows up by 8:45… Continue reading George Town, Day 4 [Wednesday Feb 16]

Up by sunrise, so that we can now hurry up and wait for the weather to clear. Winds are still howling (not an exaggeration), occasional rain. Surveyed the damage from our departure last night; one spot has the most damage but looks easily fixable, the rest of the areas are sand and reseal, radar unit… Continue reading George Town, Day 3 [Tuesday Feb 15]

We were working the marina watch in the Exuma District when we got the call, heavy winds were expected in George Town within the next 48 hours. Dispatch said the caller’s name was Aine, pronounced On-ya, proceed to Exuma Yacht Club. We arrived at the manager’s office and introduced ourselves, howdy ma, I’m Sargant Micky… Continue reading DragNail, Episode 1, ‘The incident’

Calm winds all night long, good sleeping weather. At about 6:00 am the skies opened up with a torrential downpour that lasted 2 minutes and stopped. Over the next 2 hours with winds started to build. We awoke early and our only plan was to go grocery shopping. I left early to buy some 3/8”… Continue reading George Town, Day 2 [Monday Feb 14]

The night at Solder Cay was a bit bumpy, but restful. We spent the early morning looking for more George Town marina information, Sarah found out that the Marina at Emerald Bay is a Sandals Resort, checking the website the price per foot was different than previous reported, its more expensive, and they have a… Continue reading George Town, one really has to wonder [Sunday Feb 13]

After dinner I got out the charts to figure out what our next move was going to be. There are only 2 options; go the whole way back (at high tide) and start all over again (6 hours), or exit out a cut into Exuma Sound (a fancy name for the Atlantic Ocean). Remember that… Continue reading The hits just keep on coming [Friday Feb 12]